The patron god of embalming,
guide of the Underworld was Anubis. Known as friend of the dead and Opener
of the Way, Anubis was a deity that could be seen throughout all of ancient
Egypt. . The name of this god is traditionally spelled
(Inpu). The name here is read left to right, with an abbreviated image
of Anubis finishing. Often, as with many of Egypt’s deities, the
spelling of the name changes but one characteristic stays the same: the
jackal at the end. In some cases the jackal is raised up on a pedestal
to show its holy importance.

As the
Hieroglyph indicates, Anubis is commonly seen as a Jackal. It’s
believed that the jackal was chosen as the iconic figure for this
deity due to the necropolis where the wild dogs of ancient times
would often prowl to hunt for food. Some say that Anubis took the
form of a jackal to help Isis and Nephthys search for the pieces
of Osiris’s body. According to legend, and the story does
vary, the brother of Osiris, Seth, lured Osiris into an elaborate
coffin and had it sealed shut then threw the box into the Nile where
it washed up on the Phoenician coast. Isis then retrieved her husband’s
body. When Seth learned of this he had Osiris’s body cut up
into pieces and scattered throughout Egypt. It was then that Isis
and her sister Nephthys

in the form of Kite birds, and with Anubis in his jackal
form, found all the parts of his body except the phallus. With the help
of Thoth, the body was restored and Anubis wrapped it in linen; giving
him the name “He Who is in the Place of Embalming.”

Although there is some debate on the true
animal that gave rise to the form of Anubis – some claim that the
thick tail of the figure suggests that a jackal hybrid is the proper image
– a jackal is always present in his form somehow. Many statues of
Anubis were simply of a jackal upon a pedestal; as seen in most of the
homes and villages of the kingdom. Often he was adorned with a golden
tie or necklace. Though usually in temple settings, Anubis is depicted
having a human body with the head of a jackal and tail of a lion. Since
the time of the first Egyptologists, this is the most commonly accepted
form of Anubis.

The skin of Anubis is often seen as very
dark black or with a tinge of red. His flesh is a representation of the
earthy energies with which he is connected. The color of his flesh is
similar to that of the dark soil along the Nile. This rich, fertile soil
was highly prized and gave the ancient kingdom the name Khem, which means
“The Black Land”. The color of Anubis could be an identifying
link to Osiris, who’s green flesh represents the fertile fields.

Anubis’s heritage is one of debate
among historians. Some scholars suggest that Anubis is the son of Nephthys
and Set. Another legend states that Anubis was spawned from Nephthys and
Osiris. Both legends have equal understandings due to the connections
that Anubis has through Nephthys and the Underworld. An interesting fact
is that Anubis can be seen in two different forms, as Anubis and as Wepewat.

As the mother of Anubis, Nephthys can be
seen depicted with him in the Book of the Dead most often. She is usually
seen as a goddess of night time and of darkness; this darkness could be
the reason for the color of his skin. Being a goddess of darkness she
is in opposition to her sister Isis, but maintains a friendly nature with
her and Osiris. Nephthys and Isis worked together to find Osiris and bring
him back from the dead and they stand behind him in the Hall of Truth
to give eternal life to the deceased. It is said that Nephthys longed
for the relationship and love that Osiris shared with Isis, so she disguised
herself as Isis and seduced him.

Osiris, son of Geb and Nuit, brother of
Nephthys, Set, and Isis, father of Horus and (possibly) Anubis. Osiris
is the god of the Underworld and Nephthys is the protector of the body
of the deceased, mourning for the loss of her brother at the foot of his
bier. One version of the Anubis legend states that Nephthys took on the
form of Osiris’s beautiful wife Isis and tricked him into making
love to her; this would make Anubis the half brother of Horus. The connection
to Horus can be seen in the later years of Anubis worship when he was
joined with – or at times replaced by – Horus; which was possibly
a political move by the priests of that time. Nephthys is often depicted
as being a goddess of the night time and of darkness; her union with Osiris
would be a great balance of light and darkness to create Anubis, who represents
both light and darkness. Osiris is the god of the Underworld, death, the
Nile floods, and immortality. As stated before his green skin is a link
to the fertility of the Nile – though some say his green flesh depicts
a rotting corpse – which makes an obvious link the dark soil-colored
flesh of Anubis. The legend of Osiris states that Anubis was the priest
who oversaw the funeral rites of Osiris, embalmed and mummified him perfectly
so that his body withstood the influence of time and decay. In the funerary
rites for deceased Egyptians a priest was present wearing the mask of
Anubis to assist in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony.

The legend of Anubis being the offspring
of Set and Nephthys is also understandable. Set is the god of darkness,
night time, destruction, storms, and the barren desert. In the early days
of Egypt he was seen as a friend of the dead but was later demonized.
His form is that of a mysterious animal that resembles a cross between
a jackal and an aardvark (over a decade ago, there was an animal caught
and killed by peoples of the Salawa region that resembled the mythical
Set creature, but there has been no further investigation). Set is said
to be the wife of Nephthys; and being married to the god of such wickedness
one could understand why she envied Isis. The natures of both Nephthys
and Set make them fitting parents for the secondary form of Anubis called
Wepawet; also seen as a jackal or wolf hybrid.

Wepawet was originally seen as a god of
war. His name could be seen on a military standard called a shedshed which
lead armies into battle. This may have become the very meaning for his
name, Wepawet, meaning “Opener of the ways”. The task of guiding
the deceased through the underworld was shared between Wepawet and Anubis..
Images of Wepawet can be seen at Abydos where his standard held up the
box which contained the head of Osiris. The two jackal headed deities
were originally seen as one deity but have eventually become two separate
forms; Anubis of the East and Anubis of the West, as seen in the Kerux
and Sentinel.

As guide of the Underworld, Anubis takes
the soul of the deceased before the gods to give the negative confession.
When the journey through the Underworld was nearly complete, the deceased
was taken to the Hall of Ma’at to be judged. Anubis watched over
the beam of the scale to see that it was in the proper position while
Thoth recorded the result. Anubis also took care that the dreaded Ammut
– a beast made up of the head of a crocodile, front of a lioness,
and the hind-quarters of a hippopotamus - could not devour the heart,
causing the soul to be restless for all eternity. After weighing the heart,
if the deceased is found to be true of voice through its trials and negative
confessions, Anubis brings them before Osiris to join him in immortality.
These show obvious evidence of Anubis’s connection to the god of
the Underworld.

Some of the tools of Anubis are the Phoenix
Wand, or Was scepter, and the Ankh. The Was scepter represents the rebirth
and resurrection from death. There is a belief, however, that the Was
scepter is directly linked to the power and strength of Set due to the
oblong head of the wand and forked tail or prongs. The Ankh is the obvious
symbol of life and could be referring to the eternal life that awaits
the true of voice. With the image of Set in one hand and the symbol of
life in the other, we can see that Anubis is balanced with both positive
and negative forces. This balance makes him an excellent god to watch
over the beam of the balance of Truth.

In our tradition, Anubis can be found in
the roles of the Kerux and the Sentinel. Both officers wear the form of
Anubis, but there are two different forms. The two are Anubis of the East
(Anwusi-G m-PeioT) and Anubis of the West (Anwubi m-RemnT). Anubis of
the East is worn by the Kerux and is seen as the Watcher of the gods.
He guides the candidates during their journey while also guarding the
inside of the temple. Anubis of the West is worn by the Sentinel, who
stands outside the temple and is armed with a deadly weapon. Anubis of
the West is called the Watcher Without, guarding the outside of the temple.
He is in charge of the candidate waiting to be admitted into the temple.
Anubis of the West can be attributed to another jackal headed god by the
name of Wepawet (the opener of the ways).

Anubis is the guide and opener of the way.
He is the protector and friend of the dead overseeing the deceased to
the weighing of the heart. His mother is Nephthys but his father is uncertain.
Either way, Anubis is a deity that shows perfect balance between mercy
and severity. Wonderfully, he oversees the candidate in the Hall of the
Neophyte or the Hall of Ma’at. Unlike the other gods of Ancient
Egypt, Anubis doesn’t have a specific cult center. His worship was
common in both Upper and Lower Egypt. Even today, when someone hears the
name of Anubis they think of the jackal headed god and desert sands. Truly
a figure head for all of Egypt, Anubis has opened the way for Ancient
Egypt and given it eternal life.